Stand in the Rain
by Unca Pafoo
Summary: Songfic. Luna Lovegood can get hurt, and not just physically. She is not immune to what people call her, do to her belongings and say about her. Luna is only human, after all.


**Recently found this song, and instantly thought of Luna. Hope I portrayed her right! I know that some people have written in this theme, but I haven't read one yet. No copyright intended.**

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_She never slows down_

Luna skipped towards the giant front door, hiding what she felt behind her dreamy smile. She stopped quite suddenly and looked over the heavy closed doors, contemplating how to push them open.

_She doesn't know why but she knows that when she's  
__All alone_

The few passing students ignored her, except to roll their eyes and snicker, "That's Loony, isn't it? Anyway…" before continuing with what they were discussing. No one stopped to help her with the door.

_Feels like it's all  
__Coming down_

She slowly pushed open the wooden door. Outside, the thick, grey clouds rumbled ominously and the first raindrop fell.

_She won't turn around_

Luna didn't pause, didn't glance at the brewing storm; she kept on skipping with the same vague expression.

_The shadows are long and she fears if she cries that first tear_

More rain started slowly falling, dropping onto her upturned face. Luna blinked, and the raindrops began to turn salty.

_The tears will not stop raining down_

A thunderclap echoed across the sky and rain poured down. Luna looked skywards and spun in the rain, black robes and blonde hair whirling behind her as she laughed and cried insensibly.

_So stand in the rain  
__Stand your ground  
__Stand up when it's all crashing down_

The constant taunts of 'Loony', the theft of nearly everything she owned, the rejection of her classmates. Luna's laughs turned into inaudible sobs as the tears were finally allowed to stream down her face.

_You stand through the pain  
__You won't drown  
__And one day, what's lost can be found  
__You stand in the rain_

They said the cruelest things. Things about her appearance, her character, her family - Brian Grinderford even went so far as to sneer at her dead mother. Lightning flashed through the sky as Luna held on to her mother's frequent pearls of wisdom.

_She won't make a sound_

In the castle, Luna would hold her silence. She would accept every verbal blow and every materialistic loss. She would meet the storms as they came, and hide her sorrow in them.

_Alone in this fight with herself_

She was beginning to give up. Her wish to be normal and therefore left alone was beginning to grow stronger than her will to be herself.

_And the fears whispering  
__If she stands she'll fall down_

Everyone wanted her to give in, waited maliciously for her to relinquish her image of what she wanted to be in favour of what they wanted her to be. The worst thing was that they had already succeeded, though they didn't know. Luna Lovegood came to Hogwarts as a free, unbound and unmasked spirit. They had forced her into a mask that even she would not have ever willingly chosen. Ever.

_She wants to be found_

Luna was tired of concealing her true emotions. She wanted out, wanted people to recognize her for who she was and accept it. She wanted friends.

_The only way out is through everything she's  
__Running from_

No one would accept the lunatic crying her heart out in a thunderstorm as a friend. Luna had a choice - be herself and have no one, or put on the mask of someone else and have friends who would never know her?

_Wants to give up  
__And lie down_

Luna slowly stopped spinning and sank to the ground. The mud splattered over her robes as she knelt, head hung, not even bothering to keep up a pretense of insane dancing in the rain.

_So stand in the rain  
__Stand your ground  
__Stand up when it's all crashing down_

The thunderclap came softer this time, softer and slower. The clouds slowly started to roll away. Luna knelt in the mud, the last of her tears eventually cried away.

_You stand through the pain  
__You won't drown  
__And one day, what's lost can be found  
__You stand in the rain_

"Evanesco…" The mud vanished from her robes as Luna wearily stood up. The sun began to lighten the dreary landscape once more as she brushed her hair out of her eyes and tucked her wand behind her ear.

_So stand in the rain  
__Stand your ground  
__Stand up when it's all crashing down_

Luna started walking back to the castle. Halfway along the little path, she started skipping again, all traces of her emotional outburst hidden once more behind that infuriatingly dreamy smile. The big doors still stood open, and Luna passed through, starting up towards her dormitory.

_Stand through the pain  
__You won't drown  
__And one day, what's lost can be found  
__Stand in the rain_

Andrea Carmichael sneered at Luna as she stood pondering the Ravenclaw knocker's newest question. "What were you doing, Loony? You're all sopping wet. Did you go and dance in the rain? Look, everyone! Loony's developing her talents as a dancer out in the rain!" A chorus of mocking laughter rose from the small crowd of Ravenclaws. Luna's expression remained placid. The tears began to build once again, but she pushed them back.

"Gods are real if you think they are," Luna told the knocker in a thoughtful voice. Her voice quivered on the last word, though. The knocker seemed to notice and quickly swung open, murmuring, "Good answer, dear. Don't worry."

Luna fell back onto her blue sheets and stared at her slightly muddy bare feet. She glanced sideways at the tiny notches in her bedpost. Luna idly flicked her wand, and one of the notches disappeared. _One more week till the next storm…_

_So stand in the rain  
__Stand your ground  
__Stand up when it's all crashing down  
__You stand through the pain  
__You won't drown  
__And one day, what's lost can be found  
__Stand in the rain..._


End file.
